Rating: 
Summary: The fantasy that could have been ...
Review: Herbie Brennan's 'Faerie Wars' was an amazing read that transports readers from boring contemporary England to the dangerous and imaginative realm of the Faeries! Everything all starts when Henry is cleaning for Mr. Fogarty and finds a fairy which is later revealed as Pyrgus in his faerie form. After this find, readers became embroiled in an intricate plot involving these four vividly drawn out main characters;
1) Henry Atherton, whose world falls apart after his parent's decision to separate.
2) Mr. Fogarty (the grumpy old man who Henry cleans his house for so he can buy an MP3 player) who has a mysterious past and believes in faeries and ufo's ... Henry describes him as 'loony'.
3) Pyrgus Malvae, the crown prince of the faerie realm who in the beginning of the book, is on the run from Faeries of the night and seeks refugee in Chalkhill and Brimstone's Glue Factory ... unfortunately for Prygus more danger awaits him there than the fairies who are chasing him!
4) And lastly the spunky princess (sister to Pyrgus) Holly Blue, who doesn't wait for her father's men to get information. Blue is already on the verge of a career as a spy
These characters complicated stories all are intricately woven by Brennan, which makes for an amazing story full of suspense, magic, and science! As Colfer endorses on the front cover, Brennan masterfully blends all three!
My only problem with the book was the whole affair that involves Henry's mother being a lesbian. The reason is not that it was inappropriate for a story clearly meant for children (even though I found this in the young adult section. But, no matter what section it is in, the front cover endorsement by Colfer is going to attract younger readers, so this is obviously not appropriate for younger children). The reason is because the whole concept proved to be unnecessary for the overall story. It was never explained why Henry's mother had to have a lesbian affair. The whole affair didn't expose Henry to something that eventually helped solve another problem. Henry was already cleaning for Mr. Fogarty when he ran out of the house after learning about the affair, so he would've found Pyrgus affair or not! And for this reason is why I gave this amazing story that could have been great only 3 stars. :(
But, if you ignore the fact of the whole lesbian affair situation, Brennan skillfully conveys magic, mystery, an intricate murder plot, amazing characters, science, and suspense, which all adds up to one amazing read! I eagerly await to plunge back into this world and revisit these characters in 'The Purple Emperor'. I really hope to learn about the mysterious Prince Comma, for not much is explained of him in this book that I would have liked to know.
Warning; parents concerned about this book, it should be only recommended for children above the age of 13.
Rating: 
Summary: This book is totally awesome!!!
Review: This is the best book ive read, since, the house of the scorpion (and that was like last month)!! It's about this boy called Henry, I guess about 14 or so, and his family is having some conflicts. He works for this old guy Mr Forgarty, who is somewhat insane and belives in fairies and aliens. So one day, while he is working in Mr Forgarty's back garden, he finds a fairy and shows it to Mr Forgarty, which he made this machine thing to comunicate with him (since they couldnt hear him, too small) and found out that his name was Pyrgus, and that he had comed from the Faerie Realm, sent from his father the purple emperor through a portal to escape from these bad guys who wanted to kill him, I mean, he is next in line for the throne! Only thing is, he wasnt meant to end up in Mr Forgarty's back yard, he was supposed to end up somewhere else, and nobody knows how the portal screwed up, it never does. It turns into this whole thing that Pyrgus is in danger of dying cause he was poisoned before he left (without knowing), The Faerie Realm is in danger of going down the drain since so many people want to become the purple emperor, which turns into this big exiting book that keeps you guessing. It's soo cool, I cant wait to get the next one!! Ok, Ive read reviews saying that the 'family conflict' that Henry is having is inapropiate since his mom turns out to be lesbian, but it's not like 6 year old's would read this book! But yeah, I guess there is christianity and stuff and their religion says only a man and woman and alll that jazz. And people are also saying that this one part in the book almost in the end, henry conjures a this spell from a demon book trying to get Pyrgus back from hell, and that would be something with the religions too. So, too bad the religious ones wont be albe to enjoy this book! Trust me, it is not worth to pass it up!
Rating:
Summary: Great Book Highly Reccomended!
Review: A great book exciting and creative a great book to read in your spare time, this book is just as intresting as the artemis fowl series i would recomend it to people from ages 12-15 in a sence it has a few stories going on at a time and at certain points leaves you in suspence.. also i would reccommend you read it when you have a lot of time because when you start reading it you cant stop.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: All in all, I thought that the book failed to live up to its intriguing premise.The story is sketchily written in some places, and ponderously detailed in others. I found the characters rather cardboard-ish and had a difficult time caring about what happened to them. Some of the characters' reactions to events in the story were underwhelming or unbelieveable. Sometimes characters disappeared for pages at a time, with little in the way of explanation. There were some very jarring transitions between England and the Faerie world that detracted from the enjoyability of the story. The main characters had changed quite a bit by the end of the book, but I didn't see a real impetus for the change. I wish I had enjoyed the book more, but I can't find any redeemable qualities to mention. I would recommend books by J.K. Rowling or Tamora Pierce if you're looking for well-crafted fantasy literature for young adults. Or try Emily Drake's Magicker series--she's not quite in the same league, but she does writes very enjoyable fiction.
Rating: 
Summary: You've got to be kidding me!
Review: Being an adult, I'm always scoping the isle for good novels for the young adult or children and came across this one. I thought it innocent enough until I took it home and began to read it.
First chapter I'm shocked because there are some things a child should not be reading--the conversation with the father and son about the mother having an affair with another woman just outraged me. No child of mine will be reading such a story and as an adult I was sickened by this garbage. Just because it happens in the world, doesn't mean we need any Jerry Springer storylines in our children's books where the young can easily get a hold of. This should have never been published for the young.
It only gets worse as you turn the page, there are sick demonic sacrifices and all kinds of stuff that made me tear the book to pieces and toss it into the trash, where it belongs.
If you care what you're child reads, then avoid this book and look into something more age-appropriate and stimulating, to give hope and encourage a young child or teenager, not leave sick images in a child's mind that will be with them for the rest of their lives. We have enough garbage in this world, we don't need to be reading about it. The person who published this book should be fired. I will not be buying anything from this same author or publisher.
There are good books out there for children and teens. I enjoy the Harry Potter books and just got done reading The Blue Girl by Charles De Lint which is way better than this material that should have never been printed in the first place.
If this kind of stuff floats your boat then you will like this kind of story. It should be considered adult, I'm shocked that I found this in the children's section.
Rating: 
Summary: Fast paced fantasy
Review: Except at the beginning. Once this book got going, it was a gripping adventure. But until the pieces finally fall into place, it was a tad slow. The author slowly builds up to the main action, something some readers may find boring. The book starts with Henry Atherton building a model of a flying pig (that actually flies. No explanation is given for this). Then he discovers that something has gone wrong in his life. It turns out his Mom's a lesbian who's been having an affair with his father's secretary. Certainly not an average occurance! But this is not an angsty 'teen problem' novel, which is what you'd expect that to happen in. It's a fantasy story about faeries interacting with humans and travelling between worlds. The lesbian plot development is a useless addition that was never expanded on like it could have been. The book also follows Pyrgus Malvae, a faerie prince and his escapades in his world involving black magic and bad "faeries of the night". His feisty sister Holly Blue reminded me of Holly Short from the Artemis Fowl books. Strangely enough, this whole story seemed vaguely similar to the books (which is interesting, considering Eoin Colfer wrote glowing praise of this book on the back cover). Henry, Pyrgus, Holly and a funny old man named Mr. Fogarty eventually meet up after a lot of disasters, espionage, demon summoning, trickery and portal mishaps. The result is an excellent conclusion begging for a sequel. You'll enjoy this book.
Rating:
Summary: a fantastic faerie novel
Review: faerie wars has everything a good faerie book needs; adventure, a young faerie with an attitude, wizards, trolls,ect.
It's about a boy named Henry who mets up with prince of the faeries, Pyrygus Malvae and along with old Mr. Fogarty they start off on a quest to save the prince's world.
Won't say anymore or i'll ruin it! This book is the greatest, plus there's going to be a sequel, i can't wait! enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: One of the greatest books in it's genre.
Review: First off, I have to note a complaint towards several of the reviewers who have criticized this book on the grounds that it "is not for children", and is thus too controversial for young children and their parents to enjoy. Well, there's a reason that it's filed under YOUNG ADULT!!! Just because a book has the word 'Faerie' in its title, doesn't necessarily mean it's written for kids. Young adult covers a variety of ages, generally ranging (at the youngest) from thirteen or fourteen all the way up to eighteen years old, however, this book is also thoroughly enjoyable for adults. With that said, "Faerie Wars" is one of my favorite books, and for a very specific reason. It's unique and funny without straying and becoming overly tongue-and-cheek or childish in the process. This book covers a lot of ground in its 367 pages. The main characters are compelling, one with a fiery heart and strong motivation, the other a person who lacks those very two qualities, which makes for an interesting and fun character dynamic. The atmosphere in the book is incredible. Herbie Brennan cultivates a world so rich in detail, colors, scent, taste, etc. that you wish you were there, despite the evils that threaten to engulf it. (Hey, it's a fantasy book. What would a fantasy book be without the threat of an overwhelming evil on the horizon, right?) However, Brennan even finds a way to twist this, creating villains who aren't what they seem, and change, very realistically and surprisingly, more than once. Another distinguishing factor that makes this book great, is voice. Herbie Brennan manages to convey the events that are taking place through the eyes of the character while at the same time injecting the thoughts of the narrator skillfully amidst the thoughts of the character. Brennan also manages to deftly juggle the story line from one character to the next, not leaving every break between characters with a cliff-hanger, but with just the right touch of suspense, compelling you to keep reading. The combined effect of these techniques results in a vortex-like effect, sucking you in and holding your attention until either you fall asleep from exhaustion, your light source runs out, or you read all the way through to the end. All in all, I can't think of hardly anything that weighs this book down, but the pro's go as follow. PRO'S
*Enjoyable characters and character dynamics
*A world so rich in detail and atmosphere, you won't want to leave.
*Villains whose wickedness holds your attention, and who's unique personalities almost outshine the main characters'. In short: thoroughly enjoyable bad-guys.
*A plot line that keeps you guessing, smiling, tense and enthralled all at the same time, boasting an amazingly minimal amount of plot-holes. Three cheers for Herbie Brennan!
*Skillful transitions from character to character and easy flowing changeovers from voice to voice. CON'S
***Note: this con will vary from person to person. It all depends on what bothers you***
*Several sadistic scenes involving the villains of the story, as well as a small theme of controversy involving lesbians and a few descriptive scenes of gore involving black magic. All in all, seeing as the controversy and slight violence/gore of the story doesn't upset me, I look at this book as one of the greatest accomplishments of it's genre, and a book that is so atmospheric and well-written, you won't want to put it down. Now THAT'S the mark of a great book.
Rating:
Summary: awaiting the sequel
Review: fortunately enough for me, a friend and i were stumbling around in barnes and noble and i came across this book. being a visual person, the cover design caught my eye and without reading the inside flap i bought it.
brennan's use of systematic plot building effortlessly keeps your attention, beginning with a left of center family issue. his crotchedy old man character Mr. Fogarty is written well enough that it will most likely make you feel like you've met someone just like him. you know, the kind of hermit war veterans that sit in front of supermarkets or on the corner of your own street. henry and pyrgus both fly off the page as typical teenage boys mischeivious and without a clue, but mostly my appreciation lies with brennan giving Blue, the youngest and only female MAIN character a personality that can kick your ass; to be frank. :)
look for the tie in from the VERY beginning of the story (Henry's cardboard pig model) to the end... give it some thought, it will make perfect sense.
most definitely an entertaining and quick read, i loved it.
Rating:
Summary: A remarkable, swift-paced fantasy
Review: Henry Atherton helps Mr. Fogarty clean up the house and discovers an unexpected benefit: the world of Faerie and a crown prince who has escaped into the human world. While Faerie Wars was marketed with a young adult audience in mind, all ages will find it a remarkable, swift-paced fantasy which leaves no stone unturned and which excels in strong characterization and a satisfying plot.
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